The proposed legislation failed to gain support from a single Republican Senator Wednesday, leaving it seven votes shy of the 60 needed to open debate. Sen. Harry Reid changed his vote to "no" so that he would be allowed to reintroduce the bill, The Washington Post reported.

The same bill failed to gain Republican support in the Senate twice previously, in 2010 and 2012. The bill would make it illegal for employers to retaliate against an employee who inquires about another employee's wages in a complaint or investigation.

A Pew Research Center survey finds that women earn 84 percent of what men earn, though young women have a much smaller gap at 93 percent. The survey finds that women are more likely to say they had taken career interruptions to care for their family, and research has shown that these types of interruptions can have an impact on long-term earnings.

Here's a Storify showing the history of and background of the Paycheck Fairness Act.